The present invention relates to attachments for electrical shavers, and also to a cleaning device useful for cleaning shavers. The attachments and cleaning device are particularly useful when an electrical shaver is to be used for wet shaving with soap and water, cream, lotion, or other substance lubricating the skin; and the invention is therefore described below with respect to such an application.
Electrical shavers were originally designed and used for dry shaving, to provide the convenience of shaving whenever and wherever desired, and also to reduce the danger of nicks or cuts present in wet shaving with a blade. However, in recent years, a number of electrical shavers have appeared on the market which may also be used for wet shaving with soap and water or with a shaving lotion, to thereby provide the advantages of a close and smooth shave, convenient cleaning, and a refreshing after-feeling previously obtainable only with a wet shave using a blade.
My U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/312,765, filed May 17, 1999, discloses an electrical shaver which is particularly useful for wet shaving as well as for dry shaving. Several preferred embodiments of the invention are described in that patent application, in which the electrical shaver is of the rotary-type, including a plurality of shear members formed with a plurality of hair-entry slits, and rotary cutter members each rotated within one of the shear members for cutting hairs entering through the slits.
Some of the preferred embodiments described in that patent application include a scraper member particularly useful when the electrical shaver is used for wet shaving. Thus, when the electrical shaver is so used, a lubricating substance (soap and water, shaving lotion, cream, etc.) lubricates the skin so that the shaver head smoothly glides over the skin. However, such a substance also wets and lubricates the hairs growing on the skin, so that the shaver may also glide over hairs and fail to closely cut some hairs during a pass. The main purpose of the scraper member described in that patent application is to engage and erect the hairs in advance of the shear members, thereby better assuring a cleaner and closer cutting of the hairs in a minimum number of passes. The scraper member also tends to taughten the skin before engaged by the shear member, thereby enhancing the closeness of the shave in a manner similar to the action of the 2-blade or 3-blade safety razor. The described embodiments include one having a separate scraper member built into the shaver head for each shear member, and another having a common scraper member built into the shaver head enclosing all the shear members.
One object of the present invention is to provide an attachment for an electrical shaver which attachment includes a scraper member in the form of a cap easily attachable to the electrical shaver, e.g., for wet shaving, or detachable from it, e.g., for dry shaving. Another object is to provide an attachment which includes, in addition to the scraper cap, or instead of a scraper cap, a dispenser for dispensing shaving lotion during shaving, thereby enabling existing electrical shavers also to be used for wet shaving with a shaving lotion. A further object is to provide an air impelling device that may be used for conveniently air-drying a cutter head when used for wet shaving, or air-cleaning a cutter head when used for dry shaving; and a still further object is to provide a kit including some or all of the foregoing attachments, as well as a supply of shaving lotion, particularly useful for wet shaving.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an attachment for an electrical shaver including a housing having an electrical motor, and a cutter head carried at one end of the housing and driven by the electrical motor; the attachment including a cap having a sharp scraping edge located to engage a user""s skin forwardly of the cutter head, when the cap is attached to the shaver, to erect hairs and to taughten the skin before engaged by the cutter head.
It will thus be seen that an attachment for an electrical shaver constructed in accordance with the foregoing features provides the above-described advantages of erecting the hair and taughtening the skin when the shaver is used for wet shaving. However, it has additional important advantages. Thus, by providing the scraper member in a separate cap attachable to and detachable from the shaver head, the invention enables existing shaver heads to be used without change. It also enables an electrical shaver to be easily adapted for wet shaving by merely attaching the scraping-member cap, or for dry shaving by merely removing the cap if desired.
This aspect of the invention is to be distinguished from the multi-purpose attachment for ladies shavers described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,621,971, which differs in purpose, structure and mode of operation from the present invention. The device described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,621,971 is intended to provide a guard to permit ladies to shave under arms without pinching and cutting the skin; whereas the device of the present invention is intended to provide a scraper member, particularly but not exclusively for use in wet shaving, to engage and erect the hairs before engaged by the cutter members. Thus, the device of the patent provides a blocking surface which effectively blocks a substantial portion of the slits in the shear member, whereas the device of the present invention provides a scraping edge which scrapes the skin and erects the hair before the arrival thereat of the shear member (or other cutter head). In addition, while the cap in U.S. Pat. No. 5,621,971, includes a separate aperture for receiving each shear member, in the preferred embodiments of the present invention described below, the cap is formed with a single enlarged opening defined by a border carrying the scraping edge, which border is configured to circumscribe all the shear members when the cap is attached.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an attachment for an electrical shaver including a housing having an electrical motor, and a cutter head carried by an end wall of the housing and driven by the electrical motor; the attachment including a dispenser for manually dispensing a quantity of shaving lotion during shaving, and attaching means for releasably attaching the dispenser to the electrical shaver.
This aspect of the invention is to be distinguished from the existing electrical shaver which includes a built-in shaving lotion dispenser. Since the lotion dispenser is provided in an attachment, rather than being built-in to the electrical shaver, this aspect of the invention enables many different models of existing electrical shavers to be adapted for shaving with a lotion by merely attaching the lotion-dispenser attachment thereto.
Moreover, in the existing electrical shaver having a built-in lotion dispenser, the conventional cutter bar provided for trimming sideburns, mustaches, or beards, is removed and provided in a separate attachment since its place is occupied by the built-in dispenser. When the lotion dispenser, however, is provided in an attachment, rather than being built-in, removal of the attachment enables the conventional cutter bar to be used in the conventional electric shaver.
Another advantage in the use of an attachable lotion-dispenser, rather than a built-in lotion dispenser, is that it permits the user to use any desired shaving lotion (e.g., a relatively inexpensive skin moisturizer lotion), and to refill the dispenser from a large container, e.g., via a manual pump commonly provided on such moisturizer containers, thereby minimizing the expense, as well as increasing the lotion choices, to the user.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an auxiliary cleaning device comprising a socket for receiving a detached cutter head; and a chamber which is manually expansible and contractible to impel air through the cutter head when received in the socket for air-cleaning and/or air-drying the cutter head. As will be described more particularly below, the auxiliary cleaning device can be used for drying a cutter head after used for wet shaving, but can also be used for cleaning a cutter head after used for dry shaving.
Many other features and advantages of the devices in the present application will be apparent from the description below.